


I Think I'm A Ghost

by KatBug



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: a different take on when danny got his ghost powers, decided to continue it, he's scared of ghosts, i really wanted to share it finally, my first danny phantom fanfic, see how danny reacts to different things involving his ghost powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-09 08:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8883373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatBug/pseuds/KatBug
Summary: Changed summary: When Danny goes into the ghost portal, everything changes. His friends thought he had died, Danny was sure he had died, but yet, he was still there, living and breathing like anyone else. With his new ghost symptoms, how will he learn to deal with it, and come to terms with the fact that he's a half ghost?





	1. Chapter 1

“Sam, I...” Danny shifted nervously from foot to foot facing his female friend. “I don't know about this..”

The two were standing together with their other friend in front of the so-called Fenton Ghost Portal. Danny was clutching tightly onto the white and black jumpsuit, the nervousness he felt was very apparent.

His parents had walked away from their basement lab only about 10 minutes prior, very upset, and very disappointed in their findings. They had dedicated most of their life, as far as Danny knew, trying to work on the portal that would connect their world to the ghost world; something he felt shouldn't even have the right to exist. Who knew what could happen if they were to be successful? How many ghosts of their dead relatives would they have been able to see then? What about the evil spirits that could come through and start haunting their house? Things like that just shouldn't be allowed.

To top it off, Danny was terrified of ghosts. Even though he lived in a rather safe household, one that would keep him safe from ghosts, it was exactly why he _was_ afraid of them. He knew it was an irrational fear, that ghosts couldn't – no - shouldn't exist, but the way his father always told him stories before bed when he was younger, they were always about ghosts, whether it was a scarier story, or one of the nicer ones, he got scared of them. The way in the middle of the night, when it was completely dark in his room, he got scared thinking that there could be one in his bedroom with him, whether it be across the room from him, under his bed, or in his closet. He always had to sleep with a nightlight since, even to this day, for fear that there could be a ghost, and the house would suddenly come to life and attack it with all the hidden weapons inside the walls.

His parents were a little _too_ obsessed with ghosts to even realize he was afraid of them, and they were the core cause of it, not that he would ever tell them that.

“Come on, Danny. One quick picture.” Sam replied, pulling Danny out of his musings, waving the camera in front of his face, who looked at her pleadingly. “I promise, and then we can leave it alone.”

“Yeah!” Tucker chimed in, wrapping an arm around the back of Danny's neck, pulling him close. “I mean, it's not everyday we get to go near your parent's inventions, and they're not here right now.”

“I..” Danny hesitated again, but upon seeing both his friends' happy expressions, he couldn't deny them. After all, he would be the one who would be the safest around the equipment, knowing what it would do first-hand. “Well, alright.” He said, pulling away from Tucker's grasp, and began to put the jumpsuit on over his clothes. “But only for one picture!” He pointed at Sam with a sharp look, making sure she promised.

“Only one.” Sam promised him, with a nod.

Her and Tucker knew about Danny's fear of ghosts, and knew the nervousness he felt right now stemmed from the fact that this non-working portal involved ghosts, much like everything else down there, but she and Tucker firmly believed that ghosts didn't exist, so it'd be fine. It was like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be down here alone and do this, since Danny's parents were very protective of their lab, and refused to let the kids be down there without their permission.

Once Danny was suited up, Sam stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don't think you would want to remember this being on your chest in the photo.” She pointed out, and tore the Jack Fenton face sticker off of the chest of his jumpsuit. “It would look silly.” She grinned at him. Of course his dad would stick his face onto anything he could.

Danny smiled back, giving a small laugh of his own. “Thanks Sam, dunno what I'd do without you.” He said, then took a deep breath, facing the portal.

He began to slowly walk towards the empty portal, glancing back at his friends a few times, who only urged him to keep going. Sam got the camera ready as he stepped past the outer ring of the portal, and into the inner workings of it. Up close he could see a bunch of wires running along the floor towards the wall, some of them sparking a bit, making his black hair stand a little on edge.

“Okay..” He said mostly to himself, breathing slowly and carefully. “Just one picture.” He muttered, and then turned around to face his friends. His foot got caught in one of the wires as he turned, making him lose his balance quickly. “Whoa!” He cried out, his hand reaching for the side of the portal to steady himself.

He heard a click, and then the sound of something powering up, followed by a flash of bright light and green and screams. Was it his own screams? He didn't know, but the light quickly engulfed him with pain. There was intense pain, that one could only describe as being electrocuted, one that screamed through every part of his teenage body, right to his very core. He felt as though his insides were burning up, like his skin was peeling off. It was like at that moment, his life flashed before his eyes, his life that all but consisted of ghosts, and he knew he was going to die. He was never going to see Sam or Tucker again or his family again. The pain was unbearable, but almost as quickly as it had started, it stopped, and the world was black.

“ _Danny!_ ” Sam and Tucker cried in unison as they heard the portal boot up with their friend inside of it, followed by his ear-splitting screams. They ran towards it as quickly as they could, camera dropped and forgotten, seeing Danny's form falling over past the green swirling mist of the now working portal towards them, grabbing him and pulling his limp form away.

The temperature seemed to completely drop in the room, making the two of them shiver slightly. They stared down at their unconscious friend, taking in what had happened, and what they were seeing. The two were 100% sure that it was Danny laying in front of them, but he was changed, and looked different. His black hair had turned pure white and glowing, he became even more pale than he was before, and his jumpsuit changed colors, or more, inverted colors.

“Oh my god, Tucker,” Sam started, the weight of what happened sinking in, grabbing hold onto her hair, trying to keep herself from freaking out and staying calm, facing the darker skinned friend. “What are we going to do!? What happened to him!?”

Tucker wasn't taking the situation much better, but was staying relatively more calm than Sam was. He was honestly surprised that Danny's mom and dad hadn't heard him screaming from inside the portal and come running down to see what happened. What would they even tell them? _Hey, your son Danny? Yeah, he got electrocuted by the portal and it was our fault for making him go in it in the first place!_ Yeah, because that would go over well.

Tucker kneeled down beside Danny's form. “I don't know Sam, I don't know.” He replied, shaking his head, reaching out to grab Danny's shoulder. All he could feel was cold from grabbing it and being in close proximity to him. He shook Danny gently, trying to get him to wake up. “He's so cold, Sam, I don't think he..he's...” He choked on his words, not wanting to say what he was thinking out loud, for fear it could be true, for fear that they both just lost their childhood friend. “Danny, please man, wake up!”

“God,” Sam said, clearly distressed, shaking her head as though trying to deny everything that was happening in front of her. “This is all my fault..” Sam said, falling to her knees beside Tucker, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands as tears began to form in them. “If I hadn't made him go in there, this wouldn't have happened, it's all my fault..”

“Sam, it's no one's fault.” Tucker said after taking a deep breath to calm himself and try and think clearly. “We couldn't have known Danny was going to trip..”

“Maybe not, but we made him, Tucker. He was so scared of going in, in the first place!” Sam covered her face, shoulder bobbing as she sobbed into her hands. “We should've been better friends...” The consequences of what had happened had never occurred to them before they did.

“Sam,” Tucker started, ready to argue against her again, before they heard a groan from beneath them pulling them both from their thoughts.  
  
“Danny!” Both of them cried out, grabbing onto him to keep him steady as he tried to pull himself upright off the floor.

Danny sat up, bringing a hand to his head as it pounded with a very obvious headache, groaning quietly. He blinked slowly at the ground, trying to get the headache to subside long enough for him to see clearly at the floor, before he brought his gaze up to his two friends. He heard their surprised gasps, but didn't pay much mind to them. “What...happened?” Danny finally asked, finding his voice, and was surprised to hear it seem to.. echo around them.

“Danny, your eyes..” Sam said, gazing into them almost curiously, ignoring his question. They weren't the bright blue she remembered them being, but instead they were a bright neon green color. They were the first thing that drew Sam's attention when he had woken up again. Everything about Danny was.. Different now, and they couldn't understand why or how.

“My..eyes?” He asked her confused, meeting her gaze. He watched as she pulled a small mirror out of her purse pocket, and held it up in front of him. He looked at himself in the mirror, and was barely able to recognize himself. His eyes glowed bright green, his hair was so white, his whole body seemed to even glow a soft white color. “What happened to me?” He asked again, more to himself than Sam or Tucker as he brought a gloved hand and ran it through his hair.

“We don't know, Danny...” Tucker said quietly, shaking his head. “You were in the portal when it turned on.”

Danny gave a shaky breath as he brought his hands down in front of him, and looked at them. They were gloved, and white, unlike the black they were before he went in the portal, and did they just-? Danny yelped in surprise as his hands turned invisible right before his eyes, a tingling sensation flowing through them before they appeared again. “What the hell was that!?” He asked, looking back up at Sam and Tucker panicked, hoping they saw what he had.

Their wide eyes and gaping mouths confirmed it for him. “Your hands just turned invisible.” Sam said, finally after long moments of silence of them trying to take in what had just happened. “God, Danny, I'm so sorry.” Sam said, the guilt crashing into her again as he had to suffer through this, none of them knowing what was going on with his body. She reached towards him to hold one of his cold, gloved hands gently.

“Look, i-it's fine.” Danny stuttered, gently pulling his hand back away from Sam's warm one, a little shaken up. “Maybe it's best if I.. if I have some alone time, y'know?” Danny suggested, slowly getting to his feet. All of it was too much to take in for one night, and he needed time to think to himself about everything, and he was sure his friends felt the same way.

“Dude,” Tucker interrupted, as he and Sam stood up with him. “You're floating!”

“I'm what?” Danny asked, a look of confusion spreading across his face. He looked down, and sure enough his feet weren't even touching the floor, and somehow he hadn't realized. He let out yet another surprised yelp, beginning to flail in the air trying to get his feet to touch the ground again.

“It's like you've got superpowers!” Tucker exclaimed, and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he watched Danny struggle despite the tension of the situation. He and Sam both grabbed one of Danny's arms helping him back down to the floor. “Way cool.”

“It would be if I knew why.” Danny replied, steadying himself on the floor with Sam and Tucker's help. His head throbbed again from the headache, and he brought a hand up trying to ease the pain again.

There was a sudden flash of light making everyone shield their eyes from it, and Danny suddenly felt.. Warm. Human, again. He could feel the beat of his heart that he hadn't noticed had stopped beating, and feel the blood pumping through his veins, and finally he realized he was breathing, such a natural thing that he never realized he had stopped doing as well. His friends' hands weren't burning against him anymore, and were more appreciated and welcomed at that moment.

“Danny, you're.. You again.” Sam said first, after she had opened her eyes again after the flash of light, and saw Danny's black hair, saw his blue eyes, and felt his skin warming up again.

Danny looked between Sam and Tucker, and then down at his hands, thankful that they didn't disappear on him this time. “Then who's the other me..?” He muttered quietly to himself, slowly shaking his head.

“Kids!” The three teens looked up at the stairs leading down to the lab where they were as they heard Danny's father call down to them. Danny was slightly relieved by the distraction. Jack sounded to be in a better mood since when he'd left the lab earlier with Maddie. She probably gave him some fudge. “Dinner's ready!”

* * *

 

Danny sat down on the side of his bed, his head in his hands. Sam and Tucker had gone home shortly after they all had dinner together, and it was one of the most stressful meals he's ever had with his family and friends. If Sam and Tucker weren't there, he probably would've excused himself from dinner early.

The way his parents had gone on about the ghost portal again, and ghosts in general, it kept making Danny think back to what had happened in the lab. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was showing... Ghost-like symptoms. He had no idea what to do with that information, and quite honestly, it terrified him.

Since a couple hours after the accident, he had noticed a few changes about him, and not only about his other white haired self. But the way he was always slightly colder now, and how his heart was beating at a slightly lower pace than normal. It was weird, and it was scary. He had a few instances after his friends left where his arm or hand would turn intangible, and it would take him long moments of freaking out to get it to show up again.

He didn't know what he would tell his parents, or what he would tell his friends when he came to the realization of things, of what all this had meant. Ghosts were actually real, and he was living proof of it. How would he ever be able to explain it?

“I think I died and became a ghost.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided after all to continue this, after this being a piece that I really liked which was originally suppose to be only this chapter as a one-shot. So hopefully ones that follow this one are just as enjoyable. Thank you c:


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd gotten some feedback that I should continue this, and I really thought into it and figured that yea, I want to, and see where to go with it. I have so many ideas just floating around in my head that I really want to get out and write about, so I figure through this story I'm gonna do that. I don't write stories very often, or even upload often, but when I get reviews or comments saying I should continue it, it's really inspiring and gives me the motivation to do so, so thank you c:
> 
> Also Merry Christmas everyone :D <3

To say Danny got any sleep that night would be a huge understatement.

He spent the better part of the night lost in his thoughts, and dealing with the random bouts of his ghostly symptoms, causing him to fall through the bed, or float, or even randomly turn into his ghostly self, making him freak out and panic before he finally found himself safely back on his bed under his covers. The times where he wasn't dealing with that was back in his thoughts, in the perfect state of being conscious while unconscious, from being so tired and rather sore from the days' events.

He had ignored his friends' texts and calls on his phone that whole evening wanting to make sure he was okay, but he decided he needed to take everything in himself and try to understand what was going on before going to his friends about any of it. He'd even only said a brief goodnight to his parents as they came by his door at bedtime on their way to their own room, not really feeling in the mood to talk to anyone.

Danny woke up for the umpteenth time that night, rolling over restlessly and glancing at the time on his digital alarm clock. It was 3:45 in the morning, and he'd have to get up in a little over 2 hours for school. He groaned, rolling on his back again, laying an arm across his eyes. He was unbelievably tired, and he knew he wouldn't get anymore sleep that night. He uncovered his eyes, and gazed out his window at the night sky, the blinds already pulled to the sides since he hadn't bothered closing them earlier that day.

He had always found some sort of comfort, looking at the stars, being able to recognize constellations from where he was lying, and watching them glimmer and glow. It reminded him of his dream, to become an astronaut, to become even closer to those stars, and see things in space that he couldn't see from inside his bedroom. It was a great distraction for him, from freaking out about his ghost symptoms all night. He imagined himself in a spaceship, counting down to blast off into space. He imagined running through all the procedures he'd have to run through, to make sure everything would go smoothly, the procedures he learned from all the space flight simulators he ran and memorized multiple times on his computer in his free time. His eyes followed an imagined path of where he could see the spaceship taking off and going towards the stars, wishing one day it would come true and he could do that.

Danny's fantasy was shattered all too quickly for his liking as he realized he was gazing towards the stars from the top of his window and not so much the bottom anymore, and he realized he was floating again. He held back yet another panicked yelp, trying his hardest to keep himself calm and land on the bed again. His blanket had been thrown off him and haphazardly landed back on the bed in his struggling of getting control of himself again.

It was a couple minutes and a few curses later, that if his parents ever heard, would probably wash his mouth out with soap, he found himself back in the position he was in earlier that evening for a couple hours; sitting on the edge of his bed, with his head in his hands.

It was way too much for him to handle, he was tired and becoming grumpy and angry at everything that was happening, that he couldn't sleep. How would he ever learn to cope with this, knowing that he'd died, yet he still miraculously lived. It was like he was in the limbo between life and death, and his body couldn't decide which to choose so he was stuck in between. Quite frankly, he was scared of his ghostly self, especially when he randomly changed to him. His own body would feel completely foreign to him, turning completely cold, void of any heart beat, or rise and fall of lungs, and he hated it, hated feeling so... Dead.

His stomach growled, pulling him out of his thoughts. He was really hungry, he realized, remembering the last time he ate was around 5 that evening, and he took a glance at the clock. It was nearly 4:30 now, having not noticed just how much time had passed since he had woken up again. He figured he may as well get out of bed now and get ready for the day, eat and have a shower, maybe clean up the house a bit before anyone woke up. He yawned loudly, wiping his eyes as they watered, but knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night.

He got up and grabbed one of his smaller blankets, wrapping it around himself, snuggling into it as he left his room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He stopped on his way towards the kitchen however, when he glanced towards the basement, seeing a faint green glow from inside on the stairs. He knew that glow was from the portal, the very one that had killed him, or almost killed him only hours before. He still wasn't completely sure if he was dead or not, and shivered pulling his blanket tighter to him, pushing the thought aside, continuing his way to the kitchen, turning on the light.

As quietly as he could, Danny grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, finding a box of cereal, pouring it in, followed by milk, and he took a spoon, sitting down at the table after with his blanket still wrapped around him. He began to eat, crunching slowly on his cereal as he lost himself in his thoughts, yet again. He was holding his head up with one hand, elbow against the top of the table, while the other fed himself.

He finished up his cereal, feeling better and more awake now. He leaned back in his chair, debating about whether to go shower now or later, ultimately deciding to just do it now while he was feeling awake. He got up to place his bowl in the sink, and head towards the stairs.

He shivered again as he passed the stairs to the lab, though this time he felt it for a completely different reason. His body felt ice cold against his warmth, and his lungs felt like they were going to freeze over until he'd let out a gasp, watching as a blue mist of air escaped him and dissipated, and it was over. The coldness left him just as quickly as it consumed him, as he'd tightened his hold on the blanket, rubbing his arms to warm him up again. “What was that?” He muttered quietly to himself, shaking his head, heading upstairs, looking forward to his warm shower now. He had no idea what that cold sensation was that over took him, but it felt the same as whenever he turned into his ghost counterpart and it scared and confused him greatly.

He started up the shower, hopping in only moments after, finally beginning to feel relaxed under the pressure of the water after a long night of stressing. He'd ended up staying in the shower longer than he anticipated, as the water began to go cold, and no amount of turning up the hot water and turning down the cold water was enough to make it stop going cold, so he was forced to get out, not wanting to stay in the cold water. He began drying off, and wrapping a towel around his waist, making his way back to his room, dragging the blanket behind him.

After getting dressed, Danny went back downstairs to see his parents awake, sitting at the kitchen table. Jack was reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee, while Maddie was sitting beside him, with her own cup, looking like she was trying to wake up more. He glanced at the clock on the stove, reading 5:38.

“Morning, mom, dad.” Danny said, opting to sit in the living room on the couch, turning on the tv to find some cartoons to watch. It wasn't far from where his parents were sitting, they could see each other and hear each other clearly. “Did I wake you guys up?”

“Well yes, but that's alright, sweetie.” His mom replied to him, smiling towards her son. “What in the world are you doing up this early anyway?” She asked him. Danny was known for always sleeping in as late as he could, often times almost making him late for school.  
  
“I, uh...” Danny started, looking away from his parents and at the cartoon playing on the tv screen. “I couldn't sleep well last night.” He replied, wondering if he should tell his parents what had happened yesterday evening. They would probably be mad at him for going anywhere near their life's work, and what would they say about him dying? That couldn't end well with any parent. “I'm just not feeling very well.” He ended up telling them instead, shifting to lay down on the couch and watch the tv, and yawned.

“You coming down with something, Danny-O?” His dad asked, glancing away from his newspaper for a few seconds to look at his son laying down. He heard him make a small noise, as if he was deciding on whether he was or not.

“Yeah... You could say that.” Danny replied quietly, “Can I stay home today?” He really didn't feel like going to school, and dealing with his ghost symptoms there while being overly tired. It was bad enough just having to deal with them at random times at home. He didn't want anyone at school thinking he was more of a loser than he already was there.

Maddie and Jack looked at each other, and Jack shrugged. It wasn't often that they let their kids off school for sick days unless they were really sick with a fever or the flu or something of the like. It was clear Danny didn't look good, dark bags under his eyes from being up all night, but didn't give any other signs that he could be sick. But it hardly seemed fair to the parents to have their son go to school having barely slept, when they'd barely slept themselves, still rather upset about the portal not working the night before.

“Please?” Danny asked again, as the silence for an answer from then dragged on too long. “I promise I'll go tomorrow.” He really hoped they'd let him.

He heard his mom sigh, a sign to him that she was giving in. “Alright.” She replied to him. “But only if you're going to be resting.” She supposed she could give Danny this much, he was doing really well in school, almost as well as Jazz was, and she didn't want him falling asleep there.

“Really?” Danny perked up at that, thankful he wouldn't have to deal with the mess that was himself at school. “Thank you.” He said, falling into a comfortable silence with his parents, his focus once again on the tv, before he began feeling himself slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 

“Jack!” Maddie's voice called out from downstairs in the lab, sounding rather urgent. Her voice, combined with Jack's loud footsteps to make it downstairs scared Danny right out of his sleep, finding himself yet again floating in the air.

“Dammit.” He muttered to himself, trying to keep himself from panicking again as he heard his parents muted voices talking about the portal being on, and then their footsteps coming back up the stairs. _Land, please land!_ Danny thought desperately to himself, struggling to get back on the couch he had fallen asleep on. His thoughts were granted, thankfully as his parents had come into view at just the right moment, while he stared at them like a deer caught in headlights, wide awake now.

“Danny-boy!” Jack exclaimed, completely ignoring the boy's frightened look, coming over to him, and rested one hand on the back of his shoulders. “You have to come see this!” He took hold of Danny's shoulder, basically dragging him back down into the lab with them.

“Oh,” His mom started, sounding a little sad despite the happiness she felt, as they reached the lab, looking at the bright green swirl of the Fenton Ghost Portal. “If only Jazz were here to see this too. She'd be so happy!”

Danny rolled his eyes at that. As if Jazz would be happy about the portal working, she had done everything she could to get them to stop working on it before it could tear the family apart because ghosts don't exist, so the portal wouldn't work. If only she knew how wrong she was now though, and Danny knew she didn't take a liking to being wrong.

A chill ran through Danny's spine as he looked at the Ghost Portal, flashbacks of what had happened yesterday flashing through his mind. He watched the green swirls indicating the portal was working, and slowly saw them shift into something like a beckoning hand. He could faintly hear his parents talking, his whole world currently focused on the portal in front of him, like it was inviting him, like it felt like it would be home behind the green mist. He wasn't sure what it was that compelled him, but he began to walk towards it, it could've been the pull he felt from deep inside him, leading him towards the portal for all he knew.

His focus on it was snapped when his mom grabbed his arm, stopping him from going any further, pulling him back to reality. “Danny,” She said, bringing him gently away from the portal, “Don't be going any closer, we don't know what exactly it could do yet and what it's capable of, and you'll have to wear your protective gear if you want to go any closer.” She told him, though he was barely able to focus on her. His mind wandered, wondering what it was that had happened, and seemed to take control of him in that brief moment.

“Um,” Danny started, rubbing the back of his neck gently. “Sorry.” He apologized, looking between his parents.

“Ah, it's okay Dann-o!” His father replied, smiling widely at him. “I just wonder what caused it to turn on. Maybe a delayed reaction?” He asked, looking towards Maddie.

“Uh, about that,” Danny started quietly, taking a deep breath. He wanted to tell his parents about what happened, why the portal was on, what had happened to him, even though he was scared of the reactions it could cause. He wanted to tell them what he'd felt, being near the portal. Maybe they'd find a way to help him become normal again.

However, he just seemed to be ignored when Maddie went over to the lab's computer and began tapping away at it. She was quickly lost in the world of their creations with Jack, looking into the reason why it had turned on, the two of them brainstorming together a bunch of different theories.

Danny stood there for a couple minutes, just watching them. The courage he had to tell them about what had happened quickly faded as they forgot about him being there, and he didn't bother trying to get that courage again. Maybe he could tell them another time. “Um, I'm just gonna go back to my room and get some sleep.” He told his parents, excusing himself and leaving the lab without bothering to know if they'd heard him or not.

Once in his room, he flopped down on his bed, face in his pillow. He felt a bunch of different emotions just then, ranging from confused to anger and wanting to cry. He felt so alone, and he didn't know how to cope with it. He let out a long, loud sigh, sitting up and rubbed at his eyes angrily. He caught sight of his phone over by his nightstand, having forgot about it since last night, he decided he may as well text Sam and Tucker. Maybe they could help him feel better. They were there when it had happened after all.

The time on his phone told him it was just after 1 in the afternoon. He was rather surprised he'd slept that long before he was woken up by his parents. His phone also alerted him of the mass of texts he'd gotten from his two friends since yesterday, ranging from asking if he was okay, to worrying about him, to asking where he was since he wasn't at school that day, and again wanting to make sure he was okay. He smiled slightly at the texts, glad to know the two were always going to be there for him.

He opened up a group chat that had the three of them in it, quickly typing in a text to let them know that he was staying home for the day and asked if they could get him any homework he needed. His friends would be out of school in just a few hours, so he'd be able to see them soon. He wasn't completely sure if he was ready to see them again so soon, but he knew he needed them around to keep himself together.

 


	3. Chapter 3

As expected, Sam and Tucker did come over after school, staying true to their word. Danny heard them come into the house as Jazz opened the door for them, and they made their way up the stairs to his room. He was currently sitting at his computer desk, a game of Doomed open that he closed when he heard his door open and his friends come in.

“Hey Sam, hey Tuck.” He greeted them, turning around in his swivel chair, facing them. “How was school?”

“Meh, about as boring as it usually is.” Sam replied, shrugging as she made her way over to the beanie bag chair he had, plopping herself down on it. Tucker opted for going to his bed, and sitting on the edge of it.

“Are you okay though?” Tucker asked, looking over at Danny with a concerned look. “We were worried about you.”

Danny shrugged silently, leaning back a little in his chair. “I...” He started quietly, moving his glance away from Tucker towards the floor. “I'm not really sure.” He replied finally after a few moments. He looked back towards Tucker, watching him as he dug through his bag, pulling out textbooks and notebooks.

“What happened today, Danny?” Sam asked, leaning forward a little in her spot on the floor, looking up at him.

Danny was quiet, seeming to contemplate what to tell them. “Sam,” He began slowly, picking his words carefully. “I think I died in the portal.” His voice sounded distant as those words came out. “And I think I'm a ghost.”

At that point, Tucker had stopped pulling out homework from his bags and stared at Danny, while Sam's eyes were wide, guilt running through them as she looked at her friend as well. Danny looked between them both, watching their reactions to what he admitted to them.

“Danny,” Sam said after a few moments of his words sinking into them. “Ghosts... They're not real, you know that.” She told him. All day her and Tucker just thought maybe it was some radioactive power that gave Danny his abilities and turned him into a superhero like Superman or the such. Neither of them even thought anything of ghosts.

Danny almost looked offended, instead choosing to look at the floor and glare at it, his eyes glowing green but he didn't seem to notice. “I know that.” He said sharply, before calming himself down and looking back up at Sam, his eyes his normal blue color again. “But what if they are?” He questioned her, watching as she struggled to come up with an answer. Thankfully she didn't need to, as Danny continued. “All these things I've been doing since I came out of the portal, floating, going invisible, having things go through me,” Danny listed off symptoms he'd had since he got the powers, including being able to turn into his ghostly alter-ego, going cold and having his heart stop beating. “These are all things that can only happen to a ghost.” He said, “I'm a ghost.”

“But Danny,” Sam said quietly, her eyes searching his, never breaking the gaze, “You're still you... You're still human.”

This made Danny freeze, realization hitting him like a brick. He'd been so focused on the fact that he had ghost symptoms, convincing himself he had died and was a ghost, that he forgot just how human he actually was too. That he needed to eat and sleep, or else he'd starve, and he'd get tired. That he needed to do to basic human things, like going to the washroom. That he even still needed to go to school. _That he breathed, and his heart was beating._ “How is this possible...?” Danny quietly asked himself, looking down at his hands.

“That's it!” Tucker said, breaking the silence that the room fell into, breaking Danny from his realization, looking over at Tucker. It was the first time he had spoken since Danny and Sam went at each other, choosing to have been silent and think about it while they talked. “What if Danny is still human, but he got the ghost powers because the portal, according to your parents, lead to a ghost zone, therefore would be full of ghost energy.” He explained to them, “So Danny didn't die, he just got their powers.”

“But you have to die to become a ghost, Tuck...” Danny intercepted, crossing his arms over his chest. “What about the other me then? Because it's certainly not human...”

“Maybe...” Sam began quietly, thinking about it hard. “Maybe you only partly died?” As Sam said that, she immediately buried her head in her hands, exhaling loudly. “God, I'm so sorry, Danny... This is all my fault.”

Danny uncrossed his arms, shaking his head, his eyes wide at Sam's reaction to that. “No, no!” He quickly said, getting up to go sit down beside her, surprised when she suddenly latched onto him, burying her head against his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as sobs wracked her body. He didn't realize just how much the whole situation affected her, how much she blamed herself for everything. “It's not your fault.” Danny said, quietly, glancing up at Tucker so he knew he was talking about him too. “I don't blame you guys, if anyone, I blame myself.” _And my parents for even making the damn thing..._

It really wasn't often that Sam broke down in front of the two boys, usually preferring to keep her emotions to herself, and crying when she's by herself. But today, just like the day before, she couldn't stop herself when the grief and guilt overcame her. “We shouldn't have made you do it though...” Sam mumbled against Danny's shoulder through her sobs.

“Sam...” Danny quietly spoke, letting out a long sigh, as he continued to comfort his friend. “I told you I don't blame you. You were just as curious as I was even though ghosts scare the crap out of me.” He let out a lighthearted chuckle at that. “I'm the one who should've known better than to go in.”

“Speaking of,” Tucker interrupted. He wanted to go join the two on the beanie chair and help comfort Sam, but resisted as he felt it was a just Danny moment Sam needed, so he stayed back where he was. “How did your parents react to the portal being on?”

“Well, their yelling woke me up from my sleep.” Danny replied, slowly letting go of Sam as she began to calm down and pull away herself. “They wondered how it turned on, and I was going to tell them, but they kinda just immediately got so absorbed in their work they forgot I was even there.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I'm not sure what I should even tell them now; or when.”

“Well, maybe Sam and I can help you with that? Be with you when you tell them?” Tucker asked, figuring it was the least they could do for him. Danny nodded slowly as he considered the offer. If he tried to tell them with his friends there, and his parents turn their attention away from him again, they could help get the attention back on him.

“Yeah,” Danny said, giving a final nod as he came to his decision. “Yeah, I'd like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I figured i'd upload this since I've had it sitting in my documents for a long time. I'm not gonna be continuing this. I'll be posting all my other unfinished work that I've written for this fandom aswell. I'm not really a part of it anymore, but I did at least want to wrap this up like this haha. I had big plans for this fic, but its hard getting the motivation to write it. But either way, thank you guys for reading, and leaving kudos, that really does mean alot to me and i apologize greatly <3
> 
> You can read my prompts and unfinished work here: https://goo.gl/1AHjLq


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